Tianliangyuan

Chapter 197 Piercing That Sliver of Hope

Cheng Yuan knew that Xu Zhaozhao's reputation in Beijing was not good, and she also knew that countless people were watching her, both openly and secretly. She was somewhat curious about Xu Zhaozhao, who had taken the initiative to come to her door, but she also harbored some malice towards her.

“My reputation is bad now. Many people say that I seduced my husband, and some even say that I embezzled the Cheng family’s property and defied the emperor’s will. How dare you come and speak to me?”

Xu Zhaozhao laughed and said, "Your Cheng family is indeed very bold. The imperial decree was to confiscate your property, but your Cheng family dared to hide a lot of wealth. If it weren't for that, why would the emperor have issued another decree to exile the entire Cheng family?"

It wasn't until someone petitioned for leniency for the innocent, and because there was no concrete evidence in the Cheng Gong case, that the Emperor showed exceptional mercy and spared you from exile. But this does not mean that your Cheng family is innocent!

Cheng Yuan's face turned deathly pale instantly.

If those valuables bearing the Cheng family's mark had not been found, there might still be a reason for all this trouble.

However, these valuables were found, along with a large amount of silver, which is enough to prove that the Cheng family had defied the imperial decree.

This one crime alone is enough to implicate the entire Cheng family!

Even if it was too hasty to convict Cheng Gong at the beginning, what could be done when the Cheng family defied the imperial decree afterward?

Therefore, at this point, whether or not Cheng Gong can be exonerated seems to be no longer important.

If Cheng Gongzhen were truly exonerated, then the Emperor would also hold the Cheng family accountable for their subsequent disobedience.

So what's the point of all this trouble?

Ultimately, the Cheng family is guilty!

And it's a serious crime!

Cheng Yuan can't sleep well at night now, fearing that soldiers will suddenly break in and take her to prison!

She doesn't want to go through anything she went through back then again.

At this moment, Cheng Yuan hated the person who found those valuables the most.

If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be in such a difficult and embarrassing situation now!

"Cheng Yuan, I really sympathize with you. You clearly have people and money, but you deliberately pretend to be weak and pitiful, which is one thing, but the key is that you have crucial evidence, yet you don't know how to use it at all. Tell me, aren't you stupid?"

Cheng Yuan's eyes widened suddenly: "How did you know?"

But as soon as the question left her mouth, within a few breaths, Cheng Yuan's pupils seemed to dilate, and she appeared to have lost her mind.

Xu Zhaozhao was never the kind of person who adhered to the principles of gentlemanly conduct. In the end times, which of the pitiful people surviving was not ruthless?

Using her special methods, she pried open Cheng Yuan's mouth. In addition, she also took away the jade pendant that Cheng Yuan had hidden well.

This is the location of another treasure of the Cheng family.

Xu Zhaozhao never intended to keep these treasures for herself, but since the origins of these valuables were not clean, they should be used for the benefit of the people.

Even if it's not needed now, it can't stay in Cheng Yuan's hands any longer.

The evidence in Cheng Yuan's hands was not evidence to prove Cheng Gong's innocence; on the contrary, it was enough to confirm the Cheng family's crimes.

However, if this evidence had been handed over voluntarily, it might have saved Cheng Gong's life back then, and also prevented the Cheng family from being ordered to be investigated and their property confiscated.

But why did Cheng Gong hold onto this list so tightly?

Even if it meant death, he refused to hand over the list. Was he trying to cover up some truth, or was there someone on the list whom he was wholeheartedly protecting?

Xu Zhaozhao couldn't understand these things, but having the list in hand was enough to make Xie Zheng and Qi Yunze give up.

At least, the two of them no longer need to run around for Cheng Gong's sake.

Of course, this list cannot be released for the time being. Firstly, it involves too many people, and if it were to be revealed, it would inevitably affect the direction of the entire political situation.

Secondly, even if this list is submitted, some people will inevitably have doubts, and the authenticity of the list cannot be guaranteed.

Another point is that this list may not be what His Majesty wants to see.

Since that's the case, why not let Xu Zhaozhao keep it for now? Maybe it will come in handy someday in the future.

The key issue is that everyone now believes this crucial evidence is with Cheng Yuan, and since she and Cheng Yuan don't get along, who would believe that this list would be in her hands?

Xu Zhaozhao summoned Xie Zheng and Qi Yunze again, but instead of showing them the list, she showed them a letter.

"This is what we found in a hidden compartment when we went to see the house. Later I learned that the house used to belong to the Cheng family, so I think this letter should be genuine. But I have never seen Cheng Gong's handwriting, so now it is up to you two to judge."

The two looked at it one after the other, and both remained silent.

It was obvious that they recognized Cheng Gong's handwriting.

Therefore, it was indeed Cheng Gong who ordered the embezzlement of disaster relief funds back then.

However, so far, only a small portion of the disaster relief funds have been recovered, and the whereabouts of the remaining funds are still unknown.

When the imperial court distributed silver, the Ministry of Revenue originally prepared copper coins, but considering that it would be inconvenient to transport them to the south, it changed to official silver. After arriving in the south, the silver was exchanged for copper coins at various government offices along the way, which saved a lot of trouble.

However, the silver ingots were not completely exchanged for copper coins. Although the Cheng family had a lot of property confiscated that year, it was still far less than the amount of official silver they had embezzled.

Seeing that the two of them remained silent, Xu Zhaozhao put the letter away again.

"It's good that you two understand this matter. Don't bring up the matter of exonerating Lord Cheng again in the future. Moreover, because the silver could not be found back then, and because there was no evidence, His Majesty was merciful and pardoned the Cheng family's exile. Now that some of the silver has been recovered, it has actually revealed the truth of what happened back then."

Actually, the reason why a large sum of money could not be recovered or found was not because the Cheng family hid it, but because that money had already flowed into the pocket of another master.

Strictly speaking, it should have ended up in the pocket of the real killer behind this case.

But is there any evidence?

Xie Zheng suddenly had a thought: "Could the Cheng family's assets, plus the portion recovered last time, offset the disaster relief funds from back then?"

Xu Zhaozhao shook her head. She knew that Xie Zheng still harbored a sliver of hope, not for Master Cheng, but for the suspicions he already had in his heart.

Xu Zhaozhao was cold-hearted and shattered his last glimmer of hope.

"Back then, His Majesty issued an edict allocating three million strings of cash. Do you know how much that would be in silver ingots?"

After that one question, Xie Zheng fell silent.

He knew that his suspicion had come true.

Qi Yunze also vaguely sensed something, but after looking at the expressions of the two, he wisely didn't say anything.

Sometimes, playing dumb is the right thing to do!